DISINFO: Ukraine displays weapons it used in Donbass, claiming they are Russian

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: Ukraine displays weapons it used in Donbass, claiming they are Russian

SUMMARY

The wreckage of a tactical missile is passed off as Russian during NATO Secretary General's visit to Kyiv.

But here's the problem. Kramatorsk. It has been proven that the missile used for shelling the train station was Ukrainian. The same Tochka U missile, that we [Russia] have decommissioned long time ago. The characteristic rudders in the tail section are clearly visible - our [Russian] modern Iskanders do not have such.

The Ukrainian government shamelessly shows NATO Secretary General their own [Ukrainain] weapons, which they fired at civilians in Donbass, Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions, pretending those are Russian missiles.

RESPONSE

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative accusing Ukraine of carrying out atrocities during the course of the war, including against its own population, and then blaming Russia. This particular claim was made in the context of the visit by NATO Secretary General to Kyiv in April 2023, which was exploited to lob accusations against Ukraine in order to justify Russia’s war of aggression against it.

On April 8, 2022, a Tochka-U missile hit the railway station in Kramatorsk, filled with civilians trying to evacuate from the combat area to the western regions of Ukraine. The strike killed 60 civilians, including 7 children.

Contrary to pro-Kremlin claims, there is strong evidence that Russian forces attacked the Kramatorsk railway station with a Tochka-U missile, killing over 57 waiting civilians and injuring over 114 civilians, according to the Governor of Donetsk Region as of 11 April 2022.

Contrary to the presented claims, the Soviet Tochka-U missile system is still in use by the Russian army, as evidenced by video footage of transports through Belarus as of March 2022. See the full debunk from StopFake (German) (Russian) or Bellingcat.

See more debunks about the Kramatorsk attack here.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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